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Shoppers turn out in force for Black Friday

Many take advantage of the discounts to stock up on Christmas gifts, while small retailers feel “forced” to take part

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24 November 2017 07:36 PM

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ACN | Barcelona

It may be a recent US import but the day of retail discounts known as Black Friday has proved very popular in Catalonia. This year was no different, with stores around the country full of shoppers looking for bargains with up to 50% off the usual retail price. In many cases, people took advantage of the sale prices in order to stock up on Christmas gifts.

Catalan retailers say that the tradition copied from the US, which takes place on the day after the Thanksgiving holiday, has taken off exponentially in Catalonia in the past two years. As a consequence, this year many stores that had not taken part in previous years joined in with special offers.

This is particularly true of small retailers, who complain that feel “forced” to take part so as to compete with larger stores, above all large chains. Maite Canalis, who works in the Xeviot store in Sabadell, warns that small retailers do not have enough profit margin to make much out of events like this “which come from abroad”. She goes on to argue that this is especially true “on the verge of Christmas” when sales go up.